Scam victim didn’t get fooled again

After a California man was duped into shipping nearly $ 7,000 by overnight parcel to Reading purportedly to bail his grandson out of jail, he wasn’t as quick to fall prey to a socalled grandparent phone scam a second time.

What the scammers didn’t know was the 67- year- old man was helping Berks County detectives when he shipped a parcel containing $ 5,000 to the same city address.

After learning his grandson hadn’t been arrested or jailed, he made some calls and was connected with the Berks County detective unit.

He agreed to assist in their investigation by sending a package to the same Reading address as he did Monday when he sent $ 6,800 in cash and a Tshirt.

On Thursday morning, members of the district attorney’s detectives unit and Reading police staked out the location on Walnut Street and saw a vehicle occupied by threemen pull up nearby.

One of the men got out and waited by the address, while the other two waited in the car after parking it around the corner.

About 8: 30 a. m., the package was delivered. After the waiting man walked away and opened it, he along and the other two men, all of Brooklyn, N. Y., were taken into custody.

Ramon E. Peguero- Rosario, 18; Joshua Noboa- Nival, 19; and Yeurys Peguero- Rosario, 21, were committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $ 250,000 bail each following arraignment Thursday night before District Judge David L. Yoch in Reading Central Court.

They await hearings on charges of theft by deception, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy.

“I am disgusted with what they have done,” District Attorney John T. Adams said. “We will see to it that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Adams said the grandparent scam is run coast to coast, often across state boundaries.

The typical ruse involves a grandchild who has been arrested after a vehicle accident in which someone was seriously injured or killed. The caller conveys a sense of urgency, preying on older residents because they may be more trusting and tend to have cash on hand.

Victims are often told by their local police departments that there’s little they can do because the perpetrators are in other states.

Adams said even though the victim and his wife live in California, he was willing to commit time and resources when investigators learned the suspects were operating in Berks.

“We were not going to look the other way. Absolutely not,” he said.

Investigators provided these details:

The California man said he received a phone call Monday from a male who identified himself as his adult grandson.

The victim questioned the caller because the voice did not sound like his grandson. The caller explained he was in a car accident while driving to a funeral in Reading.

The caller said he was texting while driving, ran a stop sign, hit another vehicle occupied by a pregnant woman and was arrested for injuring the woman.

The caller asked the grandfather not to call his parents and said he would have his public defender call him.

A few minutes later, the grandfather received a call, purportedly from a public defender who advised him that he needed $ 6,800 for bail for the grandson and a clean T- shirt for his scheduled court hearing the next day.

The victim agreed to send the package via overnight express to the Reading address given by the caller. The victim also provided the Fed- Ex tracking number to the caller.

The next day, the grandfather received another call from the purported public defender, advising him the pregnant woman’s fetus had died and the grandson was being charged with manslaughter.

The caller told the grandfather that he would be receiving a phone call from his boss.

A few minutes later, another male called and identified himself as a public defender. He requested the grandfather send another T- shirt, a COVID- 19 mask and $ 5,000 overnight to the same Reading address.

The victim went to his bank and withdrew $ 5,000, but contacted his grandson’s parents and his grandson before sending it. That’s when he realized it was a scam.